A university cancels classes one day each year to allow students, staff, and faculty to perform service in the community. Teams perform volunteer work at non-profit organizations that sign up to receive a group for the day. One group that signed up to participate as a project site was a church. For three hours, they have the latitude to put a team of volunteers to work on various projects.
The church’s executive director reflected: “It occurred to me that the “free labor” is actually not the greatest value of the day (nor is the exposure, etc.). The REAL value of the day is the deadline the event puts on us to be prepared to host the volunteers. Because we signed up to do this, we have to prepare to host the team and maximize their time and energy. That forces us to quit putting off some of those projects that we always have an excuse to “get to later” because we don’t have the time or manpower to address…
…That closet that can always be dealt with later? It’s dealt with. The extra dumpster that we know we should bring to get rid of stuff but it’s painful to get? We get it every year and fill it. It’s like having an annual garage sale. Sure, the extra cash and saving things from a landfill are both nice outcomes – but, the date being on the calendar that forces us to clean things out to be able to stock the garage sale is the REAL benefit of hosting the sale.”
He is spot-on with his observations. Having a consultant forces you to set aside a day for strategic thinking. Scheduling a lunch date is the push you need to make time for relationships. Booking a hotel ensures you will stop dreaming and start planning that vacation. Prepping for a board meeting is the push needed to do the analysis on those reports.
You’ll never get around to some of the “important but not urgent work” unless it makes its way onto your calendar — and adding an external commitment to your schedule significantly increases the likelihood that you’ll stick to it.
Thanks, Brian!
